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Type 97
The Type 97 is the latest Jeunese design. Developed from the Type 92, the Type 97 entered service in the Jeunese Army in . It is manufactured by Hsaio Motor Corporation (originally a joint project between and Hsaio). Production history The Type 97 ( : 97式主戰坦克) design was derived from the earlier Type 92, which in turn had been based on the . The prototype, developed by the Hsaio Motor Corporation, identified several weaknesses of the Type 92, and suggested solutions to fix these vulnerabilities. The government of Jeuna approved the project in , and in 1995– , the tank, then named the XT-95, underwent testing. The tank went into production in , and entered service in the Jeunese Army in . Since then, approximately 1,200 such tanks have been manufactured, all operated by the Jeunese Army, although it is available for export to nations. Design features Armour The armour of the Type 97 is composed of a layer of para- -reinforced mix, backed by boronated plastic and sandwiched between two steel plates (codenamed 手牌; pinyin: shǒupái). The Type 97 model incorporates a further layer of armour protection on top of this, in the form of a spaced/sloped armour (two plates of 17cm each, with the inner plate slanted 6.5 degrees in the positive in relation to the outer plate). An anti-spalling layer of x para-aramid is included as a final backing. The front, side and top armour is protected by add-on Jiechu-3 ERA, a third-generation Jeunese , giving the Type 97's turret its clamshell-like appearance. This was upgraded to SLERA (self-limiting explosive reactive armour) in . The armour equivalences are listed below, in millimetres of . * Turret ** Mantle: 1,500mm RHAe vs. CE (w/ ERA), 935mm RHAe vs. KE (w/ ERA) ** Front: 1,360mm RHAe vs. CE (w/ ERA), 850mm RHAe vs. KE (w/ ERA) ** Side: 1,200mm RHAe vs. CE (w/ ERA), 750mm RHAe vs. KE (w/ ERA) ** Rear: 260mm RHAe vs. CE (w/ ERA), 160mm RHAe vs. KE (w/ ERA) ** Top: 800mm RHAe vs. CE (w/ ERA), 500mm RHAe vs. KE (w/ ERA) * Hull ** Glacis: 1,190mm RHAe vs. CE (w/ ERA), 740mm RHAe vs. KE (w/ ERA) ** Side: 860mm RHAe vs. CE (w/ ERA), 535mm RHAe vs. KE (w/ ERA) ** Rear: 85mm RHAe vs. CE (w/ ERA), 55mm RHAe vs. KE (w/ ERA) ** Top: 220mm RHAe vs. CE (w/ ERA), 140mm RHAe vs. KE (w/ ERA) ** Undercarriage: 380mm RHAe vs. CE (w/ ERA), 235mm RHAe vs. KE (w/ ERA) Armament Main armament The main gun of the Type 97 is a conventional WQ288 120mm L/55 , designed and produced by Cui Armaments. The WQ288 is coupled with a carousel-style autoloader, which holds 18 rounds. 22 rounds are stored in the rear of the crew compartment, in front of the engine compartment, in a separate compartment lined with x para-aramid and equipped with a simple latching door and blow-off panels to vent the force of an explosion away from the crew. The autoloader enables the Type 97 to fire at a rate of up to 10 rounds per minute, or one round every six seconds. The WQ288 is able to fire several types of ammunition, including HE-FRAG, , tungsten , MPAT (Multi-Purpose Anti-Tank), canister, and HE-FS (fragmenting ). The tank commander, as in other tanks, has the ability to override the main gun and take control from the gunner. The Jeunese Army is looking into making its own version of the -made or STAFFSTAFF at Globalsecurity.org munitions for future tanks. Secondary armament The Type 97 is equipped with two machine guns: * WQ23 gas-powered coaxial 7.62 mm minigun (slaved to gunner) * 12.7 mm machine gun (slaved to commander) The turret is further equipped with two sets of six launchers on either side, in addition to the ability to generate smoke through the engine. The launchers can also be loaded with grenades releasing . The provision for three BZ-98 rifles is included in the tank body. Aiming The Type 97 is equipped with a ballistic-trajectory , utilising data computed from the gunner's infra-red/night-vision (2.5 km range for NV mode) sight. It can be configured to display range, lead angle and the type of ammunition loaded. These three components are determined using a laser rangefinder (6,000 m range), crosswind sensor, a pendulum static cant sensor, boresight alignment and barrel temperature data, air temperature, barometric pressure, ammunition type data (retrieved from electronic tags on the rounds), ammunition temperature and target speed. In addition to the gunner's sight, the Commander's Panoramic Sight can be used to spot targets and pass them along to the gunner. As a redundant measure, the Type 97 comes equipped with an auxiliary manual sight for the gunner, boresighted to the main gun. Turret traversing can be handled via manual hydraulic controls in the event of a fire-control system malfunction. Mobility The Type 97 is powered by a 1,500- (1,119-kilowatt) HM DX 1220 Yo-11 12-cylinder 4-stroke 20L , and a five-speed (three forward, two reverse) , utilising a torque converter, giving it a governed top speed of 67 km/h (42 mph). With the governor deleted, the tank can reach speeds up to 100 km/h, although such high speeds will damage the transmission and tracks. The engine can be used to charge the batteries, using a series of disconnects along the suspension system. The Type 97 is also equipped with a 2 kW AB-1-P30 , for use when the tank is idling. Variants and upgrades *Type 97 (baseline): Production started in 1997, includes addition of ERA and GPS and improved armour system. *Type 97UP (Upgrade Package): Production started in 2001, includes addition of Hou Yi , replacement of L/44 with L/55, replacement of ERA with SLERA and replacement of 7.62 mm machine gun with WQ23 mingun. *Type 97-D (Digital): 2005; includes addition of new Battle Management System with centralised data recovery from remote UAVs linked to the tactical net, and enhanced processing power. *Type 97C: Command variant; additional radio added. *Type 97E: Engineering variant; turret replaced with 165mm demolition gun and heavy-lift boom crane. Includes addition of 375A arc-welder. *Type 97 Macaque: Turret deleted and replaced with launchable bridge. Camouflage The Type 97 comes in several types of camouflage, as is customary for Jeunese military vehicles. In addition to the standard NATO black-green-brown, there is also the Hsaio-specific desert, jungle, tropical, grassland/prairie, Arctic, woodland (variants 1 and 2, in order of increasing darkness) and urban schemes. Not all are in use by the Jeunese, but Hsaio provides the options for foreign militaries that may operate in those terrains. In addition to the painted camouflage, there is also a camouflage net contained in the bustle rack. Miscellaneous notes The Type 97 is equipped with an automatic fire extinguisher, a self-dig-in blade, deep fording equipment, mine clearing equipment, electronic countermeasures system and an /SIFAbout.com, Department of Defense system. References and notes Category:Jeunese tanks Category:Main battle tanks Category:Modern tanks